Blake Shelton heats up crowd at the Big E

FILE - In this June 29, 2011 file photo, country singer and judge on the singing competition series "The Voice," Blake Shelton poses for photographers after finale of "The Voice" in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

The 2010 Country Music Association’s Male Vocalist of the Year, Blake Shelton, brought some country swagger to a sold out crowd at the Big E Saturday night, warming up the chilly New England audience with his charismatic performance.

Shelton, who is used to the warm Southern weather, humored the crowd by saying, “Man it’s windy and colder than crap out here,” in his recognizable drawl. Shelton was able to brush off the fall weather and kick off his performance by singing one of his hit singles, “It’s all about tonight”. The song mixed a little country with some Southern rock, and succeeded in drawing the audience into the show right away.

After Shelton performed his third song of the night, “I wanna go home” he threw the audience a curve ball by performing several well known songs by other artists. Shelton began engaging the audience about the musical preferences that his family had, when he described how his brother loved rock music he began singing the 1980’s classic “Centerfold” by the J Geils Band. Following “Centerfold” he began ranting how he hated the music his sister would blare in her room, and he started singing another '80s classic “My Prerogative” by Bobby Brown. The songs were well received by the audience, and it was clear that Shelton was having fun on stage.

He remained loose throughout his performance and was not afraid to say to the crowd, “I have been drinkin’ since like noon today ya’ll.”

Shelton began to mellow things out a little bit by first performing “Ole Red” a song with a more serious tone about a man who is serving time in prison for murder, this is widely considered among fans and critics to be one of Shelton’s signature songs. Shelton followed up “Ole Red” with two more emotional ballads “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” and “I Need You”.

The seriousness of his performance did not last long however, as he was once again openly engaging the audience, and at one point a fan was kind enough to throw up her mardi gras beads at him while he was on stage. Shelton then took a step back and began performing some of his older material, and performed “Austin” which was not only is debut single, but his first No. 1 single that topped the charts for five weeks following its release. The crowd went wild as Shelton belted out the lyrics, and was the first song of the night where the majority of the crowd was singing along word for word.

Shelton urged the crowd to take a drink just before he started performing “The More I Drink” a fun party song that throws in some strong piano playing. The audience was quick to respond to Shelton’s request, and many fans tipped back their cups as he began singing.

For his last song Shelton tried to bring out the wilder side of the New England crowd by performing “Hillbilly Bone” a catchy song that takes Blake Shelton back to his roots as a country boy at heart, and was a great way to wrap up the set list.

The audience that was not satisfied just yet, and called Shelton back on stage for an encore. Shelton responded by singing the classic “Eastbound and Down” by Jerry Reed. The song was made famous by the 1982 hit movie “Smokey and the Bandit”, and the crowd gave a warm response to the way Shelton decided to wrap up the night.